Search called off for woman kayaker lost at sea after being separated from friends during bad weather

Kayaker Elizabeth Ashbee with the kayak she was using when she went missing

Rescuers have finally called off the search for a kayaker who went missing on Sunday night.

Elizabeth Ashbee, 53, from Shrewsbury, vanished at about 2.30pm on Sunday off
the coast of Anglesey in North Wales.

She was last seen in her red Valley Avocet plastic sea kayak, heading
through rocks near Rhosneigr.

Last night the sea search was called off pending further information but
police rescue teams continued to hunt on land.

A picture of the missing woman was issued showing the kayak she was
using.

Ms Ashbee, who is an experienced kayaker and was well-equipped, became separated from four
colleagues in bad weather at rocks at Ynys Feurig, or Starvation Island,
close to Rhosneigr.

An area of up to 60 square miles has been covered in the search.

Barry Priddis, duty watch manager at Holyhead Coastguard, said: 'After
having a significant number of rescue units available to us and having
conducted a 26-hour search, we have come to the conclusion that we must
now suspend our activities pending any further developments or new
information becoming available.

'We would like to thank all those marine units who took part including
coastguard teams from Holyhead, Llandwrog, Rhoscolyn and Rhosneigr, the
crews of the two lifeboats from Trearddur Bay and crews from RNLI
Porthdinllaen, Beaumaris and Holyhead, plus air crews from RAF Valley.'

Inspector Guy Blackwell of North Wales Police said: 'We will now take
primacy management of the incident and investigations will continue,
working closely with HM Coastguard and other emergency rescue services.

Two
helicopters, three lifeboats and teams of coastguard volunteers
scoured beaches in a bid to find Mrs Ashbee.

Walkers and sailors have also been asked to keep a lookout for the kayaker who was last seen paddling towards the shore at Rhosneigr in North Wales on Sunday afternoon.

Mrs Ashbee became separated from four colleagues, who were kayaking with her, when they hit bad weather.

The alarm was not raised until Sunday evening after her
companions, who had washed up on a hostile area of coastline and had to
lift their canoes up the cliff, managed to hitch hike back to base.

Missing: The search for the woman continued off the Anglesey coast today

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Search called off for kayaker lost at sea after being separated from friends